Sky News

Subjects: Peter Beattie

EO&E.......

Kieran Gilbert: Joining me is Christopher Pyne, the Coalition campaign spokesperson.  Mr Pyne thanks for your time. Your thoughts that Peter Beattie will be running for the ALP in Queensland?

Christopher Pyne: Well Kieran, we have already got one narcissistic egomaniac from Queensland in the Federal Parliament in Kevin Rudd, we hardly need two.  And if Peter Beattie who is self-confessed media tart, addicted to spending, debt and deficit when he was Premier, if he comes to Canberra, it is just more old Labor, more old Labor that supports debt, that supports deficit, that doesn’t invest in infrastructure spending, that leaves the state bankrupt but loves being in the press so I don’t know how Kevin and Peter Beattie will be able to elbow each other out of the way for the camera. The truth is that Peter Beattie and Kevin Rudd despise each other – it is like the mongoose and the cobra.  And we will have two narcissistic egomaniacs splitting the Labor caucus yet again.  The only reason Peter Beattie wants to come to Canberra, Kieran, is that he wants to be leader of the Labor Party. So the chaos and dysfunction and division in the Labor Party will just continue and that’s why they need time out in the next three years.  They don’t need to be rewarded for the last six years of dysfunction with being re-elected so they can be repeat it all again on the people’s time.

Gilbert: Heaven forbid any egomaniacs heading into federal politics but let’s look at his success – he was a very successful premier – won many terms, you wouldn’t want to take him lightly would you?

Pyne: Look Kieran, Bob Carr won elections in NSW and Peter Beattie won elections in Queensland.  Winning an election is not the measure of whether you were a good Premier.  Peter Beattie left Queensland with a massive record debt, with deficit budgets, with underinvestment in infrastructure spending, he is another old big taxing, big spending Labor leader and he and Kevin Rudd are cut from the same cloth.  The only problem is that they hate each other so Peter Beattie will not be coming to Canberra if he is elected to support Kevin Rudd, he will be coming to undermine Kevin Rudd and we go through the same old Labor mill we have been through for the six years of this government. Contrast that with Bert van Manen who is the Liberal Member for Forde, part of Tony Abbott’s team. He is not an egomaniac, he is not a narcissist, what he wants to do is focus on cost of living, on stopping the boats, on job security, on good economic management for the people of Forde.  He doesn’t want to go into Parliament for himself, he wants to go into Parliament to support the members the people in Forde.

Gilbert: And what is the focus today of (inaudible) - obviously he is in northern Tasmania, what’s the big campaign message from him today?  Will he continue with the cut – the company tax – or can we expect another announcement today from him?

Pyne: Well so far in the campaign, Kieran, we have seen Tony Abbott announcing an economic driving policy, a cut to the company tax of 1.5 cents which everyone knows will help secure jobs, help grow the economy, help get government get off the back of business.  By contrast from Labor we have seen a rattled and bad tempered Prime Minister lurching from one crisis to another, his Deputy Prime Minister meeting with Craig Thomson, goodness knows to discuss what, we suspect potentially trying to secure Craig Thomson’s vote in the event of another hung Parliament.  Kevin Rudd has had to fend off questions about the YouTube ads being taken down, dirty tricks in Boothby in South Australia, his campaign is off the rails, his first big announcement was a spending announcement of $650 million and of course he couldn’t tell people where the money was coming from.  So last Friday Kevin Rudd saying we have to have savage cuts and raise taxes, three days later he is announcing more spending.  No wonder the public’s head is spinning.

Gilbert: You think that Craig Thomson could really win Dobell – you are overdoing it aren’t you when you are saying that Anthony Albanese is trying to stitch up a deal with the independent - his career, his political career, is done isn’t it?

Pyne: Well Anthony Albanese met with Craig Thomson at the Belgian Beer Cafe in Sydney - they had a few beers.  Anthony Albanese says he just likes to have a beer after work, but Anthony Albanese is from the left and Craig Thomson is from the right. I would be very surprised if they had shared too many beers before.  Craig Thomson has polling that shows that he can win Dobell.  He believes he will win Dobell and Anthony Albanese will be wanting to secure his vote in a hung parliament because Labor is all about deal making.  In NSW, Labor is all about what deals can you do, what preferences can you stitch up. Anthony Albanese needs to come clean on exactly what was discussed.  Did they discuss Craig Thomson’s legal fees and the case involving the General Secretary of the NSW Labor Party, Sam Dastyari, Kevin Rudd’s handpicked candidate for the Senate who Craig Thomson’s lawyer says owes him $35,000? Did they discuss who was going to print Craig Thomson’s How To Vote cards, and if Labor was going to print those in exchange for preferences, these are questions that Anthony Albanese needs to clean up.

Gilbert: Ok.

Pyne: Now in terms of Peter Beattie just to add to that, Kevin Rudd didn’t even know he was going to nominate.  That’s how dysfunctional the Labor Party is, it’s so chaotic that the Prime Minster wasn’t even told that Peter Beattie was going to run for Forde, that’s how much they dislike each other.

Gilbert: Okay, thank you Christopher Pyne, Coalition Campaign Spokesman there live from Melbourne, appreciate it.

ENDS